File Parsing question....

[jping45]

I have a file:

Class1:
entry1 = <some text>
entry2 = <some text>
entry3 = <some text>

Class2:
entry1 = <some text>
entry2 = <some text>
entry3 = <some text>

Class3:
entry1 = <some text>
entry2 = <some text>
entry3 = <some text>
.
.
.

Here's my problem... I need to search the file for the Class1 paragraph then grab the <some text> from entry1 and <some text> from entry2 and assign the text to two variables which I use to create a later on in the perl program I'm trying to write. Now I can search the file for the Class1 paragraph, however I have not been able to figure out how to assign the variables... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
regards,
jping45

 

[stanious]

If you're using regexes, then you'll probably want to use $&. $& is the captured text from the most recent regex. Maybe something like this ...

my $str = "class1:\n	entry1: bumble.\"";
if ($str =~ /entry1:(\s+|\t+)[a-z0-9_\.,:;\"]*/i) {
  $str = $&;
}

 

[jping45]

Actually the requirments have changed... now I need to search the file for a variable (which can be class1 or class2 or class3, so on... ) and print the paragraph to a file that will be used for report generation...

 

[MillerH]

Hi jping,

Here's an example of how to parse your file into a data structure. It might not be exactly what you need, but it will certainly give you some ideas hopefully.

[url=http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/use.html][black][b]use[/b][/black][/url] [green]Data::Dumper[/green][red];[/red]

[black][b]use[/b][/black] [green]strict[/green][red];[/red]

[url=http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/my.html][black][b]my[/b][/black][/url] [blue]%data[/blue] = [red]([/red][red])[/red][red];[/red]

[black][b]my[/b][/black] [blue]$section[/blue] = [red]'[/red][purple][/purple][red]'[/red][red];[/red]

[olive][b]while[/b][/olive] [red]([/red]<DATA>[red])[/red] [red]{[/red]
	[url=http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/chomp.html][black][b]chomp[/b][/black][/url][red];[/red]
	[olive][b]next[/b][/olive] [olive][b]if[/b][/olive] [red]/[/red][purple]^$[/purple][red]/[/red][red];[/red]

	[olive][b]if[/b][/olive] [red]([/red][red]/[/red][purple]^([purple][b]\w[/b][/purple]+):[/purple][red]/[/red][red])[/red] [red]{[/red]
		[blue]$section[/blue] = [blue]$1[/blue][red];[/red]
		[url=http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/die.html][black][b]die[/b][/black][/url] [red]"[/red][purple]Duplicate section found: [blue]$section[/blue][/purple][red]"[/red] [olive][b]if[/b][/olive] [url=http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/exists.html][black][b]exists[/b][/black][/url] [blue]$data[/blue][red]{[/red][blue]$section[/blue][red]}[/red][red];[/red]
		[blue]$data[/blue][red]{[/red][blue]$section[/blue][red]}[/red] = [red]{[/red][red]}[/red][red];[/red]
		
	[red]}[/red] [olive][b]elsif[/b][/olive] [red]([/red]! [blue]$section[/blue][red])[/red] [red]{[/red]
		[black][b]die[/b][/black] [red]"[/red][purple]Data found before section: [blue]$_[/blue][/purple][red]"[/red][red];[/red]
		
	[red]}[/red] [olive][b]elsif[/b][/olive] [red]([/red][red]/[/red][purple]^[purple][b]\s[/b][/purple]*([purple][b]\w[/b][/purple]+)[purple][b]\s[/b][/purple]*=[purple][b]\s[/b][/purple]*(.*)[/purple][red]/[/red][red])[/red] [red]{[/red]
		[black][b]die[/b][/black] [red]"[/red][purple]Duplicate entry for section found: [blue]$section[/blue], [blue]$1[/blue], [blue]$data[/blue]{[blue]$section[/blue]}{[blue]$1[/blue]} - [blue]$2[/blue][/purple][red]"[/red]
			[olive][b]if[/b][/olive] [black][b]exists[/b][/black] [blue]$data[/blue][red]{[/red][blue]$section[/blue][red]}[/red][red]{[/red][blue]$1[/blue][red]}[/red][red];[/red]
		[blue]$data[/blue][red]{[/red][blue]$section[/blue][red]}[/red][red]{[/red][blue]$1[/blue][red]}[/red] = [blue]$2[/blue][red];[/red]
		
	[red]}[/red] [olive][b]else[/b][/olive] [red]{[/red]
		[black][b]die[/b][/black] [red]"[/red][purple]Unrecognized data found: [blue]$_[/blue][/purple][red]"[/red][red];[/red]
	[red]}[/red]
[red]}[/red]

[url=http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/print.html][black][b]print[/b][/black][/url] [maroon]Dumper[/maroon][red]([/red]\[blue]%data[/blue][red])[/red][red];[/red]

[teal]__DATA__[/teal]
[teal]Class1:[/teal]
[teal]     entry1 = <some text>[/teal]
[teal]     entry2 = <some text>[/teal]
[teal]     entry3 = <some text>[/teal]

[teal]Class2:[/teal]
[teal]     entry1 = <some text>[/teal]
[teal]     entry2 = <some text>[/teal]
[teal]     entry3 = <some text>[/teal]

[teal]Class3:[/teal]
[teal]     entry1 = <some text>[/teal]
[teal]     entry2 = <some text>[/teal]
[teal]     entry3 = <some text>[/teal]

[tt]------------------------------------------------------------
Pragmas (perl 5.8.8) used :
[ul]
[li]strict - Perl pragma to restrict unsafe constructs[/li]
[/ul]
Core (perl 5.8.8) Modules used :
[ul]
[li]Data:umper - stringified perl data structures, suitable for both printing and eval[/li]
[/ul]
[/tt]

Output:

[blue]$VAR1[/blue] = [red]{[/red]
          [red]'[/red][purple]Class3[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]{[/red]
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry2[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red],
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry3[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red],
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry1[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red]
                      [red]}[/red],
          [red]'[/red][purple]Class1[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]{[/red]
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry2[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red],
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry3[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red],
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry1[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red]
                      [red]}[/red],
          [red]'[/red][purple]Class2[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]{[/red]
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry2[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red],
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry3[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red],
                        [red]'[/red][purple]entry1[/purple][red]'[/red] => [red]'[/red][purple]<some text>[/purple][red]'[/red]
                      [red]}[/red]
        [red]}[/red][red];[/red]

- Miller

 

[rharsh]

If you don't need to modify/manipulate the data, this might work for you:

my $target = 'Class2';
local $/ = "\n\n";

while (<DATA>) {
    chomp;
    print $_ if /$target/;
}

__DATA__
Class1:
     entry1 = <some text>
     entry2 = <some text>
     entry3 = <some text>

Class2:
     entry1 = <some text>
     entry2 = <some text>
     entry3 = <some text>

Class3:
     entry1 = <some text>
     entry2 = <some text>
     entry3 = <some text>